Urban Outfitters Design Director at Free People, Philadelphia, PA

Urban Outfitters Design Director at Free People in Philadelphia, PA. Full-time. Est. up to $200k. Apply with swipeandhired.

Design Director – Kimchi Blue, Women's Apparel
Position Overview
Urban Outfitters is seeking a highly creative, trend-driven Design Director to lead Kimchi Blue, our feminine, expressive, and fashion-forward women's apparel brand.
The ideal candidate has an exceptional eye for emerging trends, a deep understanding of Gen Z culture, and a distinctive creative point of view. This individual will shape the evolution of Kimchi Blue across Day and Night Out dressing, delivering compelling, relevant assortments that balance femininity, romance, individuality, and modern fashion sensibility.
This role requires a visionary design leader who can translate cultural influences, runway inspiration, vintage references, and emerging fashion movements into innovative, commercially successful product. The Design Director will be responsible for elevating the brand's identity, driving newness in silhouette and fabrication, and creating a cohesive assortment that feels distinctly Kimchi Blue while continually evolving with our customer.
As a key member of the Women's Design leadership team, this individual will inspire and develop talent, collaborate across functions, and lead the creative process from concept through execution.

Role Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities
Creative Vision & Brand Direction

• Define and execute a compelling seasonal design vision for Kimchi Blue, establishing a distinct, recognizable feminine fashion identity.

• Lead the creative evolution of the brand across Day and Night Out dressing, ensuring each expression has a clear point of view while maintaining a cohesive overall brand identity.

• Demonstrate an instinctive understanding of the Gen Z customer, anticipating emerging trends, cultural shifts, and evolving attitudes toward femininity, self-expression, and personal style.

• Translate runway, vintage, street style, social culture, and aspirational fashion influences into original, relevant, and commercially compelling product.

• Drive innovation in silhouette, proportion, fabrication, print, texture, embellishment, and styling to deliver fresh, differentiated assortments.

• Build compelling seasonal stories that connect individual styles through outfitting, color, fabric, and design details.

• Identify opportunities to evolve key items and introduce new product franchises that strengthen Kimchi Blue's position within the UO assortment.

• Confidently present seasonal direction, product strategies, and creative concepts to senior leadership.

Assortment Strategy & Product Innovation

• Own the development of balanced, trend-right seasonal assortments that address key customer needs, outfitting opportunities, and business priorities.

• Establish clear product differentiation between Day and Night Out, balancing casual femininity and everyday wardrobe pieces with expressive, elevated going-out fashion.

• Drive newness across dresses, tops, skirts, and relevant lifestyle categories, with a focus on distinctive silhouettes, compelling details, and versatile outfitting.

• Lead seasonal fabric and material direction, including lace, sheers, novelty knits, feminine wovens, prints, textures, and special treatments.

• Balance romantic and feminine design codes with modern styling, unexpected proportions, and a directional fashion sensibility to ensure product feels current rather than overly sweet or junior.

• Partner with Concept, Print, and Color teams to develop cohesive, elevated seasonal stories and differentiated print and pattern assortments.

• Collaborate with other Women's Design Directors to ensure assortment balance, brand differentiation, and outfitting opportunities across Urban Outfitters.

• Guide product development from initial concept through production, ensuring design integrity, quality, fit, and commercial viability.

Customer Connection & Business Acumen

• Maintain a deep understanding of the Kimchi Blue customer, her lifestyle, shopping behavior, fashion influences, and evolving wardrobe needs.

• Analyze sales, sell-through, customer response, and competitive trends to inform future assortment strategies and product decisions.

• Identify white space opportunities and emerging fashion movements that can translate into meaningful business growth.

• Balance creative risk-taking and fashion newness with proven commercial drivers and successful product franchises.

• Partner closely with Buying to align seasonal line architecture, key item strategies, and category opportunities.

• Regularly shop and analyze aspirational, contemporary, vintage, and competitive brands to identify relevant product and styling opportunities.

• Proactively respond to business performance while maintaining a forward-looking creative vision.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing design team with a strong creative point of view and clear ownership of the Kimchi Blue aesthetic.

• Establish a culture of creativity, curiosity, collaboration, and accountability.

• Provide clear seasonal direction, constructive feedback, and ongoing coaching to elevate design execution and individual performance.

• Encourage original thinking, experimentation, and a strong understanding of the customer.

• Develop team capabilities in trend interpretation, product innovation, fabric development, and assortment storytelling.

• Empower designers to take ownership of their categories while ensuring consistency across the overall brand expression.

• Foster a positive, collaborative environment that supports talent development and high performance.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Execution

• Partner closely with Buying, Product Development, Technical Design, Production, and Concept/Print/Color to execute the seasonal vision.

• Lead key design milestones, including concept reviews, sketch reviews, fittings, assortment presentations, and finalization.

• Ensure strong execution of product quality, fit, fabrication, construction, and design details.

• Collaborate with Product Development and sourcing partners to identify innovative materials and techniques while achieving cost and margin objectives.

• Communicate progress, risks, and opportunities proactively to senior leadership and cross-functional partners.

• Manage design calendars, resources, and budgets to deliver against critical business milestones.

• Identify opportunities to improve speed, efficiency, and overall product development processes.

Role Qualifications

Qualifications & Experience
Professional Experience

• 10–12+ years of women's apparel design experience, including leadership and team management.

• Strong background in trend-driven, contemporary, or fashion-forward women's apparel, with demonstrated expertise in feminine Day and Night Out dressing.

• Exceptional taste level and a strong portfolio demonstrating originality, fashion relevance, silhouette innovation, and a distinctive creative point of view.

• Deep understanding of Gen Z fashion culture, consumer behavior, and the evolving contemporary fashion landscape.

• Proven ability to translate trends and creative inspiration into cohesive, commercially successful assortments.

• Demonstrated success leading creative teams and partnering with senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

Technical & Creative Expertise

• Expert knowledge of women's apparel construction, fit, draping, proportion, and garment development.

• Extensive knowledge of feminine fabrications, including lace, sheer materials, woven qualities, novelty knits, and special occasion treatments.

• Strong understanding of fabric development, prints, trims, embellishments, washes, and manufacturing techniques.

• Advanced hand and digital sketching skills with the ability to communicate design intent clearly.

• Ability to independently lead fittings, product reviews, and seasonal presentations.

• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office.

• Experience with PLM systems, including Treadstone and BOM management.

• Familiarity with AI-enabled creative tools such as Midjourney, PromeAI, and ChatGPT, and their application to design exploration and creative presentations.

• Highly organized, adaptable, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced creative environment.

Key Leadership Attributes
Distinctive Creative Vision: Brings an elevated, feminine, trend-forward design perspective with the ability to evolve the Kimchi Blue identity.
Fashion & Cultural Instinct: Demonstrates exceptional awareness of emerging trends, youth culture, and the fashion influences shaping the Gen Z customer.
Product Innovation: Pushes silhouette, fabrication, proportion, and design details to create compelling, differentiated product.
Commercial Creativity: Balances fashion authority and creative risk-taking with customer relevance and business performance.
Inspirational Leadership: Develops and empowers creative talent while establishing clear expectations and a culture of ownership.
Collaboration & Execution: Builds strong cross-functional partnerships and delivers creative excellence through disciplined execution.

The Perks

URBN offers comprehensive Perks & Benefits to employees. Availability and eligibility to specific benefits may be subject to your location and employment status. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, PTO, generous employee discounts, retirement savings and much more! For additional information visit www.urbn.com/work-with-us/benefits

EEO Statement

URBN celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We are proud to provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression), religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship, service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. We believe strongly in fostering a safe, fair and respectful work environment. To ensure compliance with our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, we offer anti-harassment training to managers and employees.